


In Other Words (I Love You)

by admirabletragedy



Series: The Skybridger Assortment [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-05-28
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:07:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24417859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/admirabletragedy/pseuds/admirabletragedy
Summary: Well, Ezra thinks, he can add 'fear of water' to the list of things he and Luke have in common.
Relationships: Ezra Bridger/Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa/Han Solo
Series: The Skybridger Assortment [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1963453
Comments: 3
Kudos: 82





	In Other Words (I Love You)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Toomanyfandoms99](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toomanyfandoms99/gifts), [AlwaysandAlso](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlwaysandAlso/gifts).



> \- Title from “Fly Me to the Moon” by Frank Sinatra.

Ezra sighs, kicking a rock ahead of him as he walks. The blond walking next to him is silent.

It had been five months since the Ghost had landed in the Yavin base; Ezra had been quick to go to his quarters, much to the dismay of Hera, Sabine, and Zeb.

It wasn’t _them_ , it was that overwhelming sense of helplessness that greeted him every time he walked on board. He needed space, craved breathing room, _without_ the constant hovering of the crew.

Two days later, Ezra found himself standing at the entrance to the canteen, his eyes sweeping the area, desperately looking for a friendly face. It was just as he was turning to leave- Ezra blamed it on his years as a street kid, never being able to stay in one place for long- he felt the brush of an unfamiliar force signature.

Whipping around, Ezra found himself face to face with...

“Princess Leia?”

The brunette placed a hand on his arm, “Leia’s fine, Ezra.” Before he could apologize Leia had begun to speak again, “You look lost.”

“I feel lost,” he replied, meeting her eyes, “you masked your force signature before?”

Leia raised an eyebrow, “If I hadn’t, I would’ve been offering my head to Vader.”

She gave him a curious look at his lack of response, before lowering her hand and tilting her head, “There’s someone I’d like you to meet.”

Ezra followed her wordlessly, as she led him to a table in the corner of the room.

And _oh_ , a wave of light seemed to hit him out of nowhere. Ezra paused, Leia noticed, turning around to face him.

“You never told me there was another Jedi here,” Ezra pointed out stiffly.

Leia bristled at the accusation in his tone, “How was I to know Mon hadn’t told you?” She paused, taking a breath, “Do you not know of Luke Skywalker?”

Ezra shook his head, “No, I didn’t,” He raised an eyebrow, “I spent the last two years in deep space dealing with Thrawn, _you’re welcome_ , by the way.”

Leia rolled her eyes, grabbing his arm with much more force than necessary, “Well I’m taking you to meet him now, _you’re welcome._ ”

It wasn’t much longer before Leia brought them to a stop, letting go of his arm as Ezra surveyed those at the table.

Closest to him was a man who had turned around at their arrival. He had brown hair, Ezra noted, and casual clothing. The atmosphere around this man however, left no question in Ezra’s mind, he was a smuggler. Before even seeing his worn blaster, Ezra could see years of experience in the way the man held himself- relaxed, but ready to jump up if need be- and in the way he looked at Ezra, sizing him up almost immediately.

Across the table sat another man, his blond hair fell around his face, his eyes shone through his bangs questioningly. Like the man closest to Ezra, he seemed experienced, but with _what_?

Leia nudged him, as though reminding him to stay in the moment, before addressing the two men, “Ezra Bridger,” she rested a hand on the brunette man’s shoulder, “meet Han Solo,” lifting her hand palm up, Leia pointed to the blond across the table, “and _that_ is Luke Skywalker.” She paused, “Luke is my brother, he’s also the Jedi responsible for the destruction of the Death Star.”

Leia sat down next to Luke, having walked around the table at a point Ezra couldn’t name because, “You destroyed _the Death Star_?” Ezra felt his heart catch in his throat; he’d heard of Alderaan’s destruction, but he had been solely focused on liberating Lothal at the time; he knew that if Mon needed the Ghost’s help, she would have told them.

Luke squinted at Ezra, but it was Han who replied, “Uh yeah, where’ve you been kid?”

Ezra scowled, sitting down beside him, across from Leia.

Before he could respond, however, Leia cleared her throat, “Ezra’s a Jedi too, Luke.”

Luke’s eyes grew comically large as he turned to his sister, “Why didn’t you tell me you knew another Jedi?” He sounded offended, and Ezra huffed amusedly, at least he wasn’t the only one who’d felt a bit double-crossed by the senator.

The amusement dies, however, upon Luke turning to him hopefully, “Where’s your master?”

Luke seemed to sense Ezra’s sudden withdrawal because he quickly backpedaled, “Sorry, sorry. I just didn’t know there were any other Jedi.”

“I didn’t either,” he’d responded then, before Han broke the tense atmosphere by offering some of the food still left on his plate to Leia, with a cheeky, “ _your worshipfulness._ ”

The sound of a bird’s call swiftly brought Ezra to the present.

“Do you remember the day we met?” Luke turned to him so fast, Ezra was concerned he had whiplash.

The blond stopped walking for a moment before answering, “Of course.”

Ezra smiles despite himself, and Luke pushes himself away from the hillside he had been leaning on, to move to Ezra’s other side.

Looking up, Ezra meets Luke’s gaze, “Glad it was memorable.” Luke snorted on a laugh, “Yeah, well, who could forget the _juice incident_.” _Ah_ , Ezra thinks, _the infamous ‘juice’ incident_ ; Luke had been reaching for the pitcher when he’d made eye contact with Ezra. Disaster followed in the form of ruined shirts, Leia’s hysterical laughter, and what Han swears up-and-down is the most humiliating moment of his life. Needless to say, Luke was left staring mortified at the tipped over pitcher.

“Han won’t be pleased you brought that up.”

“Well, Han’s not here now, is he,” Luke said, his voice much quieter than before. _Oh_.

Feeling confident, Ezra merely raised a brow at the blond, “You better not be trying to flirt with me by _insulting Han_ , Luke.”

Ezra choked on a laugh as Luke honest to god tripped over his own two feet; _quite the Jedi hero_.

Except, Ezra hadn’t taken into account the fact that they were walking on a narrow path, one that rose above a swiftly moving river. Luke, unfortunately, had lost his balance on the edge of said path.

Ezra wouldn’t even process this before he found himself moving forward, grabbing Luke’s tunic with fisted hands. The blond frantically latched onto Ezra’s wrists, one foot dangling over the ledge. _Kriffin kriff._

Luke looked _terrified_ , Ezra realized, his blue eyes wide, and his pupils large. Still holding Luke where he was leaning, Ezra shook his head, quickly taking a step back, and pulling Luke forwards, and behind him, _far away from the edge of the path_. He took that time to look down in confusion. Yeah, the river was dangerous, but it wasn’t _that_ big of a drop, and surely Luke could use the Force to halt his fall.

He turned back to the blond, who had one hand against the wall, the other running through his hair. Ezra tried to meet his eyes but Luke was quick to look at the ground, “Are you okay?”

Luke nodded shakily, “We should probably get back.” Ezra gave him a questioning look but he had already turned away, starting back in the direction of the base.

Forgoing asking Luke anything- he _obviously_ didn’t want to talk and Ezra knew the feeling all too well- he merely caught up to his friend, before walking at the pace Luke had set.

They had been just about to enter the hangar, Ezra could see the Ghost- _unfortunately_ , a part of him whispered- when Luke stopped him with a hand against his chest.

The blond cleared his throat, moving his hand to tap against the metal cylinder attached at his waist, _a nervous tick_ , before looking up and meeting Ezra’s eyes for the first time since they’d started walking back, “Thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me-” Ezra had started, shaking his head because did Luke _really_ think he would’ve just let him fall?

Luke cut him off, “I, uh, can’t swim,” at Ezra’s blank look, he nervously laughed, “desert planets and all.”

“I can’t either.” Luke looked up, startled by Ezra’s admission, “Lothal isn’t exactly known for its waters either.”

Luke scoffed, but the smile on his face betrayed his gratefulness to Ezra’s words, “And yet you still decided to take us on a walk next to a _river_.”

Ezra gasped in mock offense, bumping Luke’s shoulder with his own, “It’s not like I dragged you on that walk.”

The tension broken, the two walked into the base side-by-side, laughing as they did.

And, well, if they noticed themselves looking out for each other- just _a tad bit_ more than usual- whenever there was water nearby, neither mentioned it.


End file.
